Towel bar and clothesrack



Jul-y 7, 1925; 1,545,122

C. D. BROWN TOWEL BAR AND CLOTHESRACK Filed Oct. l2 1923 INVENTOR Patented `luly 7, 1925.

UNITED STATESv CLARENCE DOUGLAS BROVN, F NEW YORK, N. Y.

TOWEL BAR` AND CLOTHESR-ACK.

Application led October' 12, 1923. Serial No, 668,063.

To aZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CLArnNcn DOUGLAS BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, borough of Manhattan, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Towel Bars and Clothesracks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to display or holding devices and has particular reference to appliances for attachment in fixed position as upon or against the side of a wall or other upright support and adapted for the holding v of towels, laundry, newspapers,

magazines, neck ties, or many other articles according to the location, size, or design of the mechanism.

' Among the objects of the invention is to 2O provide a combined supporting bar and rack of the nature indicated that will be of the neatest` possible appearance and construction; one that may be nested or folded in flat inconspicuous position against a wall or beneath a shelf or mantelor so that it may be easily secluded or covered by drapery or the like when not in use and yet be in position to be easily available when needed; yone that may be made and installed at a minimum amount of expense and trouble in comparison with its utility, and one that may be operated succesfully and satisfactorily for an indefinite time without likelihood of becoming broken or out of order. Y

l/Vith the foregoing` and otherk objects in view the invention consists in the arrange- Inent and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a front perspective view showing my improved device in nested flat position as against a wall.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section of one end portion of the apparatus, showing especially the relation of the pivoted bars to the molding.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 indicating in full lines the operative position of the several bars and in broken lines the nested flat position.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings I show my improvement as embodying' a main support 10 in the nature' of a relatively flat piece of wooden molding or its equivalent adapted to be secured as by means of screws 11 or their equivalent against any convenient upright support as a wall W, the molding being arranged horizontally. Each upper corner of the support is notched or cut away at 12 for a material distance from the end thereof, the bottom of the notch or recess being horizontal and spaced at a moderate distance below the top edge of the molding.

The bar portion of the device comprises a plurality of bar members 13 each having at its ends a pair of bearing eyes 14 shown as being formed by bending the ends into circles to which the side arm portions 13'L1 are tangent, and the eyes of each bar member are arranged in remote parallel planes and with the axes thereof coincident in the opposite cut out portions of the molding.

According to the drawings I show the'loar members as substantially U-shaped and'with the mainsupporting portions of the bars at right angles to the arm portions. These members, however, may partake of other forms but are preferably closely parallel each to each in either the supporting or nested position.

Any suitable means may be provided to so assemble the bar members withrespect to the molding as to provide for the swinging movement of any one or more thereof around the same horizontal axis into either horizontal supporting position or into substantially upright inoperative or nested position. From the nature of the supporting bars the holding capacity thereof is relatively great when they are being used and the amount of space occupied thereby when nested or inoperative is practically nothing. As a convenient or practical means for supporting the bars for the purposes indicated I provide a metallic bracket in each of the cut outs 12, each bracket comprising a bottom 16 and a pair' of parallel upright ears 17 and 18. The ears are shown provided with smooth aligned holes for a pivot member shown in the nature of a screw 19, the hole in the ear 17 being counter sunk for the head of the screw. The bottom of the bracket also is provided with holes through which fasteners such as screws 20 are passed downward into the molding for securing the bracket in the place indicated. The pivot member 19 may be of anysuitable nature and secured in the bracket in any convenient manner, but as indicated it is shown as provided with a screw threaded point 19 which projects horizontally into the body of the molding and so serves as an additional fastener or stifener for-the connection between the bracket and the mold- The U-shaped bar members are clearly indicated as of graduated size and adapted to nestwithin one another in the same plane in either the upright or horizontal position. The various sizes of the bars make yit expedient for them all to `be equally spaced from one another at the eye portions, the pivot members passing through said eyes and so making a permanent and pivotal connection between the bar members and the support. Spacers such as thimbles 21 of any suitable r nature are preferably inserted between adjacent eye portions of the bars and held in place by the pivot members. It is Vobvious. that being .so pivoted the bar members may be swung upright and rearward against the wall as in broken lines in Figf, or when to be used forholding articles thereon they may be swung forward and downward into horizontal position where the bottoms of the brackets will have direct bearing support against the arm portions 13'?L thereof for holding them. In this connection it will be noted in Fig. -3 that the eye portions 14: of the U-shaped bars lie entirely at one side of the plane of each bar, or in other words, the plane of the bars when swung forward and downward lies between the axis of the pivots 19 and the bottoms of the brackets 16. From this fact it follows that the bars are maintained in a substantially horizontal plane without special or auxiliary means connected with the brackets for so supporting them. The bar members are independently movable and operative, for any one or more of them may be swung around their pivots without moving or disturbing the others. From the nature of the construction and especially as shown in Fig. 1, the mechanism may be nested in inconspicuous position against a wall or beneath a shelf or mantel and a screen such as a simple piece of lace or other drapery may be dropped thereover, but fromvbeneath which drapery the bars may be swung forward when required. i

I claim: Y

1. In atowel bar and clothes rack, the com bination with a main support, a plurality of swinging bars each having a pair of end arms, and. coaxial pivots for the arms of all the bars, of brackets carried by the main support and adapted to support said pivots and having extended bottoms substantially parallel to the pivots and adapted to support said bars in substantially horizontal position. 4 f

2. The combination as in claim 1 wherein each pivot means comprises an integral screw threaded portion at an end thereof outside its bracket for attachment of the bracket Yto said main support.

3. In a device of the character set forth, the combination of a support having a pair of substantially horizontal spaced recesses, a pair of hinge brackets tted in said recesses, a lseries of U-shaped bars having their ends in said brackets, said hinge brackets each comprising a pivot to attach said ends and having an integral screw threaded portion outside the bracket and adapted to engage that portion of the support adjacent to a recess to securely hold the bracket fitted within said recess.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

CLARENCE DOUGLAS BROWN.4 

